Wire positioning apparatus



July 15, 1969 R. E. REEM ETAL WIRE POSITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 12 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 rlnlml July 15, 1969 R. E. REEM ET WIRE POSITIONING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1966 July 15, 1969 R. E. REEM ET AL 3,455,006

WIRE POS ITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 12, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet s' July 15, 1969 R. E. REEM ETAL 3,455,006

WIRE POS ITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 12, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,455,006 WIRE POSITIONING APPARATUS Richard Ellwood Reem, York Springs, and Robert Ullman, Harrisburg, Pa., assignors to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

' Filed Dec. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 601,005

Int. Cl. B23q 3/00 U.S. Cl. 29-203 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Electrical terminal crimping press has wire positioning means mounted thereon comprising closeable jaws normally disposed above a wire presented to the press. Prior to crimping, the jaws move towards the wire until the wire is within the maw of the open jaws. Jaws are then closed to grip the wire; thereafter, the jaws move over the wire to straighten its end portion and precisely locate end portion relative to the crimping dies of the press.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Electrical leads are frequently manufactured by means of a lead making machine comprising a conveyer having a plurality of spaced-apart lead gripping devices, thereon, see for example, U.S. Patent 3,029,494. The conveyer is loaded with leads at a suitable loading station and moves along its path of movement carrying the leads transversely of their axes and presents the end portion of each lead to a suitable crimping press. Since the leads are gripped adjacent to, but not precisely at, their ends, the unsupported end portions of the lead wires will frequently extend arcuately or divergently with respect to the gripping devices and the precise location of the end of the lead will not be predetermined. The present invention is directed to the problem of locating the end portions of the leads in a conveyer of this type precisely between the die and anvil of a crimping press.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved crimping press having wire positioning means thereon for locating the lead wire, to which a terminal is to be attached, in or over a terminal supported on the anvil of the press. A further object is to provide a press particularly intended for use with a conveyer-type lead making machine. A still further object is to provide a crimping press having wire straightening and locating means thereon which is effective to locate the end of the wire in a terminal supported on the press anvil even though the wire may extend arcuately or divergently from the conveyer which carries the wire to the press.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment thereof in which a support plate is pivotally mounted on the press on the front side thereof and extends downwardly in front of the crimping die and anvil. This support plate is provided with a slide member on the end of which are mounted a pair of wire holding jaws. The arrangement is such that immediately prior to actuation of the press, the jaws move down wardly and are closed whereby they surround the wire.- The support plate then moves inwardly along a generally arcuate path toward the crimping anvil. The jaws loosely hold the wire so that as the plate moves inwardly, the jaws slide over the wire to straighten it, and finally to locate its end portion within an uncrimped terminal supported on the press anvil.

In the drawings:

FIGURES 1-4 are a series of schematic plan views illustrating the principles of operation of a wire locating device in accordance with the invention;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are schematic side views illustrating the principles of the invention;

'ice

FIGURE 7 is a frontal view of a wire positioning device in accordance with the invention mounted on a crimping press with the parts being shown in the positions they occupy at the beginning of the operating cycle;

FIGURE 8 is a side view of the preferred embodiment showing the positions of the parts at the beginning of the operating cycle;

FIGURE 9 is .a view similar to FIGURE 7, but showing the positions of the parts at a time midway through the operating cycle and prior to final positioning of the wire in the terminal;

FIGURE 10 is a side view similar to FIGURE 8, but showing the positions of the parts at the midpoint of the operating cycle;

FIGURE 11 is a view taken along the lines 11-11 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of a typical open U-type electrical terminal; and

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of the terminal of FIGURE 12 crimped onto the end of a wire.

Referring first to FIGURES 1-6, a commonly known type of automatic lead making machine comprises a conveyer chain or the like schematically indicated at 17 and having a plurality of pairs of gripping devices 14, 16 mounted thereon at spaced intervals. Lead wires 4 are loaded onto the conveyer at a suitable loading station in a manner such that each wire is gripped adjacent to its end by a pair 14, 16 of gripping devices. The ends of the lead wires thus extend laterally of the plane of the conveyer. The wires are presented, one at a time, to a crimping station at which a suitable terminal of the type shown in FIGURES 12 and 13 is crimped onto the wire end. The terminals 2 in the embodiment shown comprise a ferrule forming portion consisting of a web 8, sidewalls 10, and a ring-tongue or other contact end. At the time of crimping, the stripped end 6 of the wire 4 is positioned between the sidewalls 10 and these sidewalls are bent inwardly towards each other and downwardly towards the web. The stripped end 6 must be precisely positioned between the sidewalls at the time of crimping for best results.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the ends 4 of the wire will usually extend arcuately or randomly from the gripping member 14 since a short free length of wire must extend beyond this gripping member. The wire ends will not be precisely positioned or located for the reason that the end portion of the wire (which extends beyond gripping device 14) is not supported.

In accordance with the present invention, there are provided closable gripping jaws generally indicated at 118-, 120 in front of the anvil means 28, 30 on which the terminal is supported. The maw of these jaws is of a width such that the wire must extend between them when the grippers, which hold the wire, are located in front of the press. The jaws are, moreover, normally elevated above the wire as indicated at FIGURE 5. These jaws are first lowered as shown by the phantom lines in FIGURE 5 and then closed as shown in FIGURE 2 into surrounding relationship to the wire. The jaws do not grip the wire tightly but rather hold it loosely so that they can be permitted to move towards the anvil as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The path of movement of these jaws is such that they locate the stripped end of the wire precisely between the terminal sidewalls. In accordance with the preferred embodiments, the jaws move along an arcuate path towards the terminal as shown in FIGURE 6 so that the stripped end, is, in effect, lowered between the terminal sidewalls.

FIGURES 711 show a preferred embodiment of the invention and show portions of the frame of the crimping press on which it is mounted. It will be understood that the locating mechanism in accordance with the invention can be used with any suitable type of press and that the press will be located beside a suitable wire conveyer of the typeillustrated in FIGURES 1-4, the gripping devices on the conveyer beingshown in FIGURES 7-11 with relation to the crimping press.

The press frame has a forward extension 20 and a platen 22 on which there is mounted a plate 24 which supports a terminal applicator of the type comprising a terminal feeding device and a platform 26 over which a strip of terminals is fed. Crimping anvils 28, 30 are mounted on the platform 24 beneath a pair of crimping dies 34, 36 which are adapted to crimp the sidewalls of the terminal into surrounding relationship with the wire. The dies 34, 36, in turn, are mounted on the lower end 38 of a reciprocable press ram 32 which is slidably mounted by means of gibs 33 in the press frame portion 20.

The wire positioning mechanism is mounted on a support plate 40 which extends in a vertical plane in front of the press and is pivotally mounted adjacent to its upper ends on each side by means of pins 42 which extend into links 44. The links 44, in turn, extend toward the press frame and are pivotally mounted at 46 in cars 48 extending from mounting blocks 50. These mounting blocks, in turn, are secured to the gibs 33 on each side of the ram 32. The gibs, and therefore the plate 40, do not move with the ram but are secured to the press frame. As will be explained subsequently, the plate can move in its own plane along a generally arcuate path by virtue of the mounting links 44 and is biased rightwardly as viewed in FIGURES 8 and towards the press by means of a suitable spring 52 which is secured to the plate 40 at one end and to the press frame portion 20 at its other end as shown in FIGURE 8.

Movement of the plate 40 towards the press frame is controlled by means of a cam roller 58, and a link 60. A cam 54 is engaged by the cam roller 58 mounted on the plate 40 as shown best in FIGURE 10. The cam 54 is mounted by means of a mounting plate 56 on the press ram 32 and has a contour such that upon downward movement of the ram and the cam from the positions of FIGURES 8 and 10, the plate will move relatively inwardly under the influence of spring 52 towards the press frame so that its lower end will move relatively towards the anvil means 28, 30.

The link 60 is pivotally connected at 68 to the mounting plate 40 and at its other end 62 to a block 64 which, in turn, is secured to a mounting bracket 66, see FIGURE 11. This bracket is secured, in turn, to one of the gibs 33 and does not, therefore, move downwardly with the ram 32.

Plate 40 extends upwardly as shown at 70 beyond the link 44 and has mounted thereon a double acting piston cylinder 72 from which a piston rod 74 extends downwardly in front of the surface of the plate. This piston rod is secured by means of a block 80 on its end and a pin 82 to a main slide member 76 on plate 40, the slide member 76 having an axially extending channel 78 therein which receives the block 80 as best shown in FIG- URE 9. A cover plate 77 is secured to this main slide on the front side thereof as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8.

A secondary slide 84 is slidably mounted in the channel or groove 78 of the main slide member 76 and is capable of limited axial movement with respect to this main slide member. As shown in FIGURE 10, the movement of this secondary slide relative to the main slide is controlled =by an eccentric stop 86 which is mounted on the end of a suitable fastener 88 secured on the back side of the plate 40. This stop extends through a slot 89 in the main slide 76 and into a recess 90 in the secondary slide 84. The eccentric stop 86 has a shank portion 87 which extends through an elongated slot 91 in the secondary slide 84 and through a suitable slot 85 in the cover plate 77. This shank portion has a kerf on its. front surface to permit rotation of the eccentric 86 to adjust the lower limit of movement of the secondary slide relative to the main slide.

The secondary slide is biased downwardly as viewed in FIGURE 10 by means of a spring 96 disposed in a. recess in the secondary slide and hearing at its upper end against a pin 92 extending between the opposed sides of the main slide member. This pin extends through suitable elongated slots '94 in the secondary slide, again to permit limited relative movement of the secondary slide while biasing the secondary slide downwardly relative to the main slide.

A pair of jaws 100, 102 are provided on the lower end of the secondary slide, these jaws having overlapping car portions 106, 108 disposed against the rearward surface of the slide through which a suitable pivot pin 104 extends. A spring member 114 is mounted on the projecting portion of this pivot pin and has arms which extend radially outwardly and embrace the sides of the jaws as shown thereby to bias the jaws normally to their open positions as shown in FIGURE 7. The upper ends of the jaws are disposed on each side of the secondary slide member and are rounded as shown at '110, 112. These upper ends of the jaws are adapted to be engaged by angle members 116 mounted on, and extending from, the lower end of the main slide, the arrangement being such that upon downward relative movement of the main slide member with respect to the secondary slide member, the angle members will engage these upper ends of the jaws and close them against the force of the arms of the spring 114. The jaws 100, 102 have depending arms 118, 120 in which there are provided opposed notches 122, 124, the size of these notches being such that when the jaws are closed, an opening is defined having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the wire, thereby to permit relative movement of the jaws over the wire. When these jaws are apart, as shown in FIGURE 7, the maw between the arms 118, 120 (i.e., the distance between the opposed sides of these arms) is sufficiently wide to contain a wire held in the conveyer at the crimping station. When the jaws close, the wire is guided into the notches 122, 124 and accurately located for the crimping operation, as will be described below.

In the disclosed embodiment, the angle members 116 are adjustably mounted on the main slide so that they can be lowered or raised slightly with respect to the slide. This arrangement permits the location of the opening defined by the notches to be adjusted rightwardly or leftwardly by a slight amount in order that this opening will be directly in alignment with the anvil on which the terminal is supported. For example, to move the opening slightly leftwardly from the position of FIGURE 9, the right hand angle member 116 would be adjusted slightly downwardly on the main slide 76 from its position shown in FIGURE 9 and the lefthand angle member would be adjusted upwardly. To locate this opening to the right of the position shown, the adjustments made to the angle members would be reversed (i.e., the lefthand angle member would be lowered relative to the main slide and the right hand angle member would be raised).

In use, the parts will normally be in the positions shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 with the main slide and the secondary slide in their raised positions. After indexing of the conveyer, a wire will be located generally below the open jaws on the secondary slide and in substantial alignment with the terminal positioned on the crimping press. As previously explained, it is entirely probable that the wire will not extend straight towards the terminal but will curve slightly due to an inherent resilient tendency of the wire which may have been imparted thereto while it was on a supply spool. At the beginning of the operating cycle, air is supplied to the upper side of the cylinder 72 to drive the piston rod 74 and the main slide 76 downwardly. The secondary slide is also carried downwardly with the main slide by virtue of the pin 92 which bears against spring 96 in the secondary slide. Prior to the end of the downward stroke of the piston rod 74 and the main slide 76, the upper end of the recess 90 in the secondary slide 84 moves against the eccentric stop 86 (see FIGURE thereby preventing further downward movement of the secondary slide. At this time (with the parts in the position of FIGURE 10) the open jaws will be on each side of the wire. The main slide continues to move downwardly a short distance from its position as shown in FIGURE 10 and the angles 116 move against the upper sides 110, 112 of the jaws 100, 102 closing them against the force of spring 114.

The initial downward movement of the main slide and the secondary slide thus position the open jaws in surrounding relationship to the wire even though the wire may extend divergently or arcuately. The subsequent downward movement of the main slide relative to the secondary slide, therefore, causes these jaws to close, since the angles 116 are pressed against the upper sides 110, 112 of the jaws. Since the wire was originally between the open jaw, the jaws close onto the wire and locate it in the opening 122, 124 of the jaws.

The foregoing actions take place immediately prior to descent of the ram 32. During downward movement of the ram, the cam 54 relatively moves downwardly with respect to the follower 58 and the mounting plate 40 moves along a generally arcuate path parallel to its own plane as indicated in FIGURE 6 by virtue of this cam and the link 60. During such movement of the main plate 40, the jaws wipe or guide the wire and move relatively toward the stripped end thereof which is thus positioned between the connector sidewalls as shown in FIGURE 6. Subsequent to final inward movement of these jaws, the crimping dies reach their bottom dead center position and crimp the terminal onto the wire.

The supply of air to the upper end of the piston cylinder 72 can be achieved at the beginning of the operating cycle by any suitable means; for example, by a suitable switch which is synchronized with the indexing mechanism of the conveyer.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently dilferent modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. In a lead making machine of the type comprising a conveyer and a crimping press, said press being beside said conveyer at a crimping station, and in which said conveyer delivers wires, one at a time, to said press for application of terminals thereto, the improvement comprising wire positioning means between said crimping press and said conveyer, said positioning means comprismg a pair of normally open jaws normally disposed proxlmate to said conveyer, said jaws, when open, having a maw which is sufliciently wide to contain a positioned *wire held in said conveyer at said crimping station, said aws having a closed maw which is greater than the diameter of said wire whereby, said jaws are permitted to move relative to said wire, and jaw closing means for closing said jaws and moving means for moving said aws towards said press after indexing of said conveyer whereby said wire is straightened and its end portion is positioned between the die and anvil of said press.

2. A machine as set forth in claim 1 in which said aws are moved along an arcuate path towards said press whereby said wire is lowered between the sidewalls of a terminal supported on said anvil.

3. A machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein said aws are mounted on a slide member, said slide member being movable between an elevated position in which said jaws are above said positioned wire and a lowered position in which said jaws are in surrounding relationship to said positioned wire, moving means causing movement of said slide along said arcuate path.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 3 wherein said slide member is mounted on a guide plate, said guide plate having link means at its upper end, said link means being pivotally connected to said press and to said guide plate to permit said arcuate movement of said slide, and cam means on the lower end of said guide plate effective between the ram of said press and said plate for moving said plate along said arcuate path concomitantly with downward movement of the press of said ram.

5. In combination with a crimping press, means for locating the end of a wire in an open U-type connector supported between the die and anvil of said press, said locating means comprising, support plate means mounted on said press having one end proximate to said anvil, means for moving said one end towards said anvil, closable jaw means on said one end of said support plate means, said jaw means having a maw which is greater than the diameter of said wire whereby, a wire held in the vicinity of said anvil is gripped by said jaw means, and upon closure of said jaw means and movement thereof towards said anvil, said wire is straightened and the end portion thereof is positioned in said terminal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,873,511 2/ 1959 Folkenroth. 2,965,957 12/1960 Packard. 3,029,494 4/ 1962 Andren 29628 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner 

